When Mikan Road Was Ours

by D.K. Furutani

Winner of Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us contest, a gripping, earnest debut novel set across four generations of a Japanese American family, exploring California’s vibrant agricultural heartlands, the sharp edges of inheritance and what it means to truly belong.

Amidst a sweltering Los Angeles heat wave, Murano, a reclusive high school English teacher, is muddling through life. Reeling from his father’s death as well as his own recent cancer diagnosis, he spends his days grading papers and appeasing disgruntled parents while painstakingly counting down the days until summer vacation.

However, the monotony breaks when he inherits his great-uncle Benjiro’s unpublished memoir. He expects the pages to be a grim reminder of his position as the half-white son of the black sheep of the family. Instead, as he reads, Murano is whisked away to 1930s California, to a time when the Murano family was inseparable, relishing life on their bucolic farmland. As Murano is introduced to family members he never knew existed and confronted with the hidden complexities of the past, he is pulled close to the Japanese identity he’s dismissed all of his life.

Ultimately faced with more questions about his fractured family than answers, Murano becomes determined to discover the reasons behind his family’s dissolution following their incarceration in American concentration camps during World War II, no matter what hidden truths he might uncover about his ancestors or himself.

Lovingly crafted with poignancy and profound attention to historical detail, When Mikan Road Was Ours is a rich meditation on belonging that seamlessly blends the intricacies of heritage, the resilience of family bonds, and the struggle to reconcile a past filled with both heartache and hope.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 28, 2026

Reviews

[Kristine]

Brand New Book by a New Author. Interested in Reading this. Japanese~White Identity and historical fiction back during WWII and how Japanese American Citizens were put in detainment centers in the US.

Covers several generations of family, which I generally like.

[Liana Gold]

General fiction/Historical fiction & multicultural interest


Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author, D.K. Furutani for the early eARC!

Publication date: July 28, 2026

[Laurel]

Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Aubrey M · Rating 4 out of 5]

​I feel incredibly fortunate to have read and reviewed this book. As the grandchild of a Nisei, my brother and I are Yonsei, although we were raised very similarly to the experience of a Sansei. Like many Japanese American families, we learned the majority of the details of our grandfather’s life and incarceration after his passing; I believe many of that generation 'folded up and tucked away' the stories of their incarceration. My own family farmed and operated a winery before being relocated to Heart Mountain.

​Furutani masterfully uses fiction to guide the reader through this vital piece of history. The characters are fascinating, and I found myself slowing down to research the historical context behind the plot. This is an exceptional work of historical fiction, and I highly recommend it as a necessary addition to the limited literature available on the Japanese American experience during WWII.

[Nancy Segura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book felt gentle and heavy at the same time, the kind of story that sneaks up on you emotionally. The writing is simple but meaningful, and the way Furutani explores family, identity, and the tug-of-war between past and present feels very real. I loved how grounded the characters were; nothing felt exaggerated, just honest, human choices shaped by history and hurt.

It’s a quiet book, but it leaves a strong aftertaste…. that bittersweet mix of nostalgia, loss, and the pieces of ourselves we carry forward whether we want to or not. I finished it feeling reflective, like I’d just walked through someone else’s memories and picked up a few truths for myself.

[Alesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this debut novel to be full of fascinating information about Japanese Americans living in the agricultural area that became part of the LA sprawl. It is a story very well told, feeling more like a memoir (which part of it purports to be). What emotional scars do generations carry after the WWII internment camps? And what emotional scars do people of any culture or race carry from parents who are themselves damaged by world events?

This is an important contribution to literature about immigrants of all kinds, especially Japanese ones, and how the personality traits and patterns (as well as the sins) of the fathers are visited upon the sons.

I take away half a star from my review because the book could have used some editing for brevity. I found myself skimming some of the rambling descriptions. Also, there were a lot of characters, all related to one another, and I got them confused. Some characters only enter the story at the very end, a rare literary occurrence. There's a family tree at the beginning of the book, but it was not legible on my Kindle. Too bad, because it would have helped me keep track of the people in the story.

Although this book is really a story of the tragedy and injustice of the US internment camps, it's also really a story of the damage war does to practically anybody it touches. Japanese Americans were treated horribly by their own government. So were all of the Japanese in Japan after the US bombing. But then, so were theChinese, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians (etc. etc. etc.) civilians by the Japanese in WWII. So are the Gazans right now, and the Ukrainians, and Sudanese. It makes me ponder the basic "humanity" of our species.

You could say that this book is also about the resilience of the human spirit, the importance of family, and how knowledge urges us toward forgiveness.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy of this book.

[Ambika]

3.5
I had high hopes for When Mikan Road Was Ours, and while I was genuinely engaged at the beginning, the novel ultimately didn’t land for me as strongly as I’d hoped. The chapters structured as flashbacks frequently pulled me out of the narrative. Because the writing voice remained largely the same across timelines, the shifts lacked clear distinction for me. While I recognize how important and necessary this story is, I found myself struggling to stay fully engaged throughout.
I most enjoyed the sections focused on the protagonist’s present-day struggles, his experience as a teacher and his alienation from his family really resonated for me. However, I didn’t fully believe the emotional connection between him and his cousin, particularly her motivation for reaching out so persistently. That relationship felt underdeveloped, which made it harder to invest in the parallel narrative.

At times, the book felt as though it could be two separate works. And yet, I also believe that its ambition, to weave together intergenerational trauma, war memory, Otherness, and the often overlooked history of Japanese migration to the United States, is very powerful. I did feel traces of that depth, but I missed something that would have made this book into one of my all-time favorites.

I think much of that comes down to execution. The memoir-style chapters didn’t fully captivate me and there were moments where the sequencing felt unclear. It disrupted my reading, often sending me back to double-check if I missed anything. I also wished for more explicit analysis connecting everyday decisions to intergenerational trauma. Overall, despite my criticisms, this remains an intriguing and undeniably important read, one that tackles histories and truths that deserve far more attention.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estranged family member finds reasons to reconnect at a family funeral.

When Murano (no first name ever used that I recall) gets an invitation from his cousin Kaiya to a family funeral, he doesn’t know quite what to think. His father had been a family outcast, leaving little contact, and it had been 15 years since he and Kaiya had even spoken. None of the family had attended the funeral of Murano’s own father, and his solitary life as an English teacher with a recent cancer diagnosis had left him bitter.

But when Kaiya gives him his inheritance, a baseball mitt and an unpublished memoir written by his great-uncle Benjiro (Kaiya’s grandfather), Murano finds himself getting lost in the family’s challenges including their immigration in the early 20th century and their experiences in the camps Japanese-Americans were forced into during WW2.

I do recommend this book. It does shift back and forth between Murano’s own life and his great-uncle’s memoir. I found myself moved particularly by the experiences the author portrays in the camps, a dark piece of America’s history, and the author’s presentation will leave readers shaking their heads in disbelief. Through it all, Murano is being tossed lifelines by Kaiya, who has also read the memoir, to reconnect with family, and I’ll leave that for other readers to discover.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy of this book.

[Jaclyn Wingfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️ What an incredible debut novel! The first thing I drove to this book was the cover, and upon reading the synopsis I was interested in the story. I read a lot of romance and thrillers so I wasn’t sure if I would like this style of novel, but wow. I truly enjoyed reading this so much and it feels like a story that will stay with me. It’s kind of like a book within a book, with chapters changing between perspectives and characters, which was a unique way to tell the story of a family’s history. The author’s writing style was easy to read and I really felt like I was in the mind of the main character.

I laughed to myself when the main character was googling key events that were coming up in his great-uncle’s memoir because that was the exact same thing I was doing while reading this book. It felt very relatable - when you are learning about historical events through the lens of someone’s live experience and wanting to fully understand everything they are referencing.

It was hard to not be drawn into all aspects of this story. I was keen to continue reading to learn more about Benjiro and his family’s life, but also Murano’s as he discovered more about the family he was meeting for the first time.

The emotional weight of the story kinda sneaked up on me. It felt light and unassuming throughout, but I’m left feeling so grateful for what I have read.

Overall, this was a beautifully told story about the importance of learning about your family’s story and being open to all perspectives of it.

This book will be published July 28, 2026 - I know I’ll be picking up a copy, and I hope you do too.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of DK Furutani’s debut novel.

This had all of the makings of a book I normally would love. Dual timelines, generational family trauma, historical fiction, family secrets, but ultimately it lacked a bit in execution, for me.

Here we are following our protagonist, Murano, as he uncovers his family history through his uncle’s unpublished memoir. For me, the current time portions of the book felt forced, and it seemed like the author was trying to somehow relate the events occurring in Murano’s life to the family history, and it didn’t quite land. I really enjoyed the flashbacks, and especially loved the prologue at the beginning of the book. It was written so poetically, I thought I was in for a totally different book than I got.

Murano’s relationship with his cousin also felt emotionless, I wasn’t bought into their dynamic throughout.

Ultimately, I wish this book focused solely on the memoir and the families history, instead of the dueling timelines. Furutani shines during these moments. Overall, a solid debut, I would read another from this author in the future.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I would actually give this 3 1/2 stars, rounded up. Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read a pre-release copy. This is type of book I normally enjoy-duel timelines and historical fiction. And I love learning about times, places and people that I knew little about. The story is narrated by a young man who learns about his family through journals and writings from family members he never really knew. The part of the story I found most intriguing was the history of his Japanese and Japanese American relatives during World War II. Their incarceration in concentration camps during that time is a horrific part of our history that I don’t think is talked about or taught enough. However, the present part of the book felt forced. That being said, the fact that the author wrote this after learning much about family, just like the narrator did, makes this much more appealing. The characters felt well rounded, and I feel like I got to know them in the end. Except for Murano and Kaiya - that to me was the weakest part of the book.

[Catie Monks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Atria Books and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review D.K. Furutani’s novel When Mikan Road Was Ours. This story uses the layering of generations’ stories of Japanese Americans. It illustrates the complicated history of immigrant and American-born Japanese people in the United States The narrator lives in the present and is dealing with his own issues of work and life and learns about his own mysterious and recently deceased father through the writings of relatives that he didn’t know about. The revelations are revealed through writings, photographs and recordings and help the narrator learn about himself and his place in his own life. All readers of this story can find similar feelings of wanting to discover more about our heritage and the complicated characters in it.